(Video Above: Zarinah & the Zaratans on the Alabama music scene from Alabama NewsCenter)
When St. Paul and the Broken Bones take the Blast Stage on Sunday night at the Sloss Music and Arts Festival, they will prove a point in their own way about the power and the potential of music in Alabama.
In their case, the point is very much about the indie rock scene in Birmingham. Their star has continually risen since the smashing success of their debut album “Half the City,” their appearances on “CBS This Morning,” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and glowing coverage by “Paste,” “Rolling Stone,” NPR, “Garden and Gun” and “Southern Living.” As a result, St. Paul and the Broken Bones have drawn new attention to the city and state from which they hail. “One of the nation’s best live bands,” said NPR’s Ann Powers.
But they are hardly alone. The Alabama Shakes. Drive-By Truckers. Jason Isbell. Act of Congress. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, popularly known as the Swampers. American Idol’s Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks and Bo Bice. The Voice’s Jordy Searcy.
They come from completely different ends of the spectrum, but they prove how hard it is to throw a rock at the popular music scene these days without hitting someone from Alabama.
From the churning indie rock clubs in Birmingham that produced St. Paul and company to the Muscle Shoals inspiration that produced the Alabama Shakes, Jason Isbell and the late-lamented Civil Wars, to American Idol-launched careers of Studdard, Hicks, Bice and many others, Alabama is securing its place in the musical zeitgeist. And it doesn’t stop there.
All over the state, there are music showcases of every size and description — for instance, the impending Sloss Fest July 18-20 in the shadow of the Magic City’s industrial heritage. And there are plenty of talented hopefuls striving for their big breaks, and aspiring musicians being nurtured in educational programs in places you’d expect – universities – and places you might not – like on a quietly hip side street in Birmingham’s Woodlawn community.
There is a rich musical heritage in the state, when you consider the long list of notable music-makers born or launching their careers from here: James Reese Europe, Nat King Cole, Erskine Hawkins, Cleve Eaton, Sun Ra, W.C. Handy, “Big Mama” Thornton, Sam Phillips – the legendary founder of Sun Records who produced the very first rock’n’roll record– Hank Williams, Dinah Washington, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Emmylou Harris, Alabama, Tammy Wynette, Martha Reeves, the Temptations, Lionel Ritchie and the Commodores. For a more comprehensive listing, check out the Alabama Music Hall of Fame or the Alabama Department of Tourism.
“I don’t think people are as aware of what is actually being produced here in Alabama as they probably should be,” said jazz guitarist Eric Essix. “We do have a tremendous amount of talent here. I think with the Muscle Shoals documentary that came out not too long ago, people are beginning to be more aware of what we did in the past. But there’s a tremendous amount of stuff going on, right now.”
Essix, who grew up in Alabama, not only tours the world as a respected musician, he also works a day job as program manager for the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Center, one of many venues that brings national and international musical talent to local audiences. He is a member of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, as is UAB music professor, Grammy winner and fellow Birmingham native Henry Panion.
“It’s exciting to see the great emergence of just the new music scene,” said Panion, who owns Audiostate 55 Entertainment. “I think no doubt, most people, when they think about music think about Nashville, closest to us, then, of course, LA and New York. But it is amazing the number of artists that come from here.”
As Alabama continues to make its bones in the music business, attracting homegrown talent to the spotlight and attention from the national press, late night talk shows and record labels, there is a little something for everyone. And there is always something new to discover.
Music festivals
One of the best places to see homegrown talent onstage, from emerging artists to stars, is at one of the many music festivals all over the state throughout the year.
Festivals celebrate everything from Hank Williams to W.C. Handy, from barbecue to crawfish, watermelon to okra, sweet potatoes to fried green tomatoes, and always with live music. Genres range from bluegrass to gospel to jazz and blues, rock and pop. There’s the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, the Billy Reid Shindig in the Shoals and, in between, any kind of music you want to hear.
Consider just two examples this year in Birmingham.
A bigger stage
The inaugural Sloss Fest is bringing St. Paul and the Broken Bones together with a roster of their highly regarded indie music peers. All at an old iron factory that has seen the city come through its industrial youth to embrace a hipper maturity.
“It’s going to bring an energy to downtown Birmingham, to a historic icon in this city that this city hasn’t seen in a long time,” said Jay Wilson, one of the partners in Red Mountain Entertainment, promoters of the show. “It’s a different kind of animal than any of the past festivals that we’ve done and we’re just excited for people from around the Southeast to descend on Birmingham and see the jewel of Sloss Furnace and be blown away by the incredible music and food and iron pouring and vendors and just the whole experience.”
The lineup at Sloss Fest reads like a Who’s Who of indie rock: Modest Mouse. The Avett Brothers. Primus. Kaleo. Band of Horses. Cage the Elephant. It’s a lineup that shares kinship with more established events like Bonnaroo, Forecastle Festival, Memphis in May, Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta and Hangout Fest.
“All these bands bring something special to this event,” Wilson said. “Our booking team here at Red Mountain worked hand in hand with the booking team at AC Entertainment, our partners in Knoxville. … And every single slot that we booked a band on was booked for a reason.”
The reason is that Birmingham’s support of indie music is unquestioned.
That’s one of the reasons for Sloss Fest.
“It feels like the time is right,” he said. “Birmingham really hasn’t had a world-class, big-time music festival that they could call their own. … I think – I hope – that there’s a community pride in Birmingham coming together and saying, ‘This is our event. This is ours.’”
Emerging artists
In June, the Alys Stephens Center hosted Local 2015, an event that brought artisans, artists, entrepreneurs and crafts people from around the state to show off their wares in the open air on Birmingham’s Southside. Local 2015 also brought local music, said Noah Andrews of the ASC, one of the organizers of the festival.
When Local was conceived in 2014, music – the staple of ASC where top-notch talent is always on the schedule – had to be in the mix. Organizers held the Make Music Alabama contest seeking the best original songs about the state. “We did have over 40 submissions for the musical element of Local and those were all around the state. Most of them, most of the finalists, did end up being from Birmingham,” Andrews said.
The top six performed, with the winner taking home $1,000. But the fest was not just about winning and losing. It was about exposure.
“There are a lot of musical venues around the Birmingham area and the Alys Stephens Center is one of those premier destinations, we believe,” Andrews said. “So one thing that we want to do every year is not only give a platform to different genres of music here at the Stephens Center, we also want to make sure we’re giving a voice for the local artists as well.”
